The Ultimate Gael Clichy Fansite

Arsenal are set to make a transfer bid for AS Roma defender Kostas Manolas according to reports from Italy.It is understood that the London club are willing to activate his release clause which is valued at £32 million.

Roma are looking to increase the release clause by offering the defender a new contract but negotiations have stalled. Manolas is also understood to be among the players that are considering their futures after the debacle regarding Danielle Rossi.
Arsenal struggled to keep clean sheets last season with the club having the worst away record for clean sheets.

Arsenal are reportedly interested in Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti according to reports in Spain. The French World Cup winner has been relegated to the bench this season as a combination of injury and poor form has affected the defender.

Umtiti is currently behind Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet in the reckoning and Barcelona are looking to add Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt in the summer. The Ajax captain would not come cheap and Barcelona would have to cash in on one of their defenders to finance the signing. Umtiti is seen as the expendable defender and at 25 years would command a bigger fee than Lenglet.

Gael Clichy is not one of the players that many remember with a lot of career highlights. Despite playing for two of the biggest clubs in England, the Frenchman is viewed as an above average footballer. This could be partly due to the type of left backs that dominated the league in the early part of the decade.

For example, Patrice Evra is known for his bursts into the defence of opposing teams and his ability to provide an extra man in the left side of the attack. While contemporary Ashley Cole is known for his exemplary defensive attributes and is considered one of the greatest left-backs in the premier league history.

Gaël Clichy clearly remembers the moment Pep Guardiola changed his outlook on how he would spend the final years of his career. Guardiola arrived at Manchester City in the summer of 2016 and summoned the French defender to his office for a clinical assessment of his future.

After one influential season under the Catalan’s guidance, Clichy and Manchester City parted ways but his former manager’s words were etched in his memory.

Before the UEFA Europa league game between Gael Clichy’s Istanbul Basaksehir and Joe Hart’s Burnley in October, Clichy spoke of how tremendous a character Hart is after the duo spent a few years together at the Etihad Stadium of Manchester City.

The two former City stars were reunited once again at Turf Moor as Hart’s Clarets sought to edge past Clichy’s Basaksehir in the Europa League third qualifying round.
After the first leg of the game ended in a goalless draw in Istanbul, the tie was delicately poised but if Burnley do progress, Clichy said he would be happy to see former teammate, Joe Hart succeed.

When Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City in 2016, he did not chop his words to Gael Clichy about his playing future. The French backpack had five seasons at Etihad after his move from Arsenal and he enjoyed all. Clichy ultimately used an extra season at City playing under the Spanish boss. But in the early 2016/17 season, he became aware of his standing with Guardiola, who repeated that his career was behind him.

"Your career is behind you now," Clichy revealed to the Guardian. Guardiola also told Clichy: "But you have a duty every day, every session, every behavior you have; young players look up to you and even at the time when you feel you are not a special player and this is all because of what you have been doing so many years in England You won the trophies, you are somebody, and the young players will look up to you and behave the way you do things."

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that Jorginho’s decision to join Chelsea this summer has been a blow to their transfer ambitions. City had a verbal agreement with the Italy international during the early stages of the transfer window but the Blues managed to hijack the deal after they offered him the chance to reunite with ex-Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri.

Speaking ahead of the Community Shield, Guardiola said that Jorginho has delivered a blow to their transfer ambitions and compared the situation with that of Alexis Sanchez last winter, he said: “The blow is that he [Jorginho] would rather be at Chelsea. We tried, we believe we were close but at the last turn he decided to go to Chelsea. The same thing with United and Alexis, so I have nothing else to say.”

Manchester City star Benjamin Mendy is grateful to his coach Pep Guardiola and his wife for their efforts at helping him settle at the club. The Frenchman joined last summer but he has barely played games for the Cityzens due to fitness issues.

Guardiola made it a priority to get the best fullbacks in the game when he took over at the Etihad. The Spaniard spent over £125 million to complete deals for Mendy and Kyle Walker, with Danilo as double assistant.

Manchester City says anything can happen in the Champions League. This is ahead of their rubber stamp fixture against Swiss side FC Basel in the return leg of the tournament. Guardiola’s men have a four-goal advantage from the first leg away. However they would need to maintain their lead to get through to the quarterfinals.

European stars are now looking at moving to Turkey for regular football action as the climate is conducive and the league is competitive. The Turkish league is enjoying good following but another major factor players now consider a plus is the lower income tax rate.